K1 Visa Requirements

K1 Visa Requirements

Affidavit of Support

Immigration officials want to ensure that a K-1 fiancé will not become a public charge (welfare recipient) once he or she enters the United States

When bringing a fiancé from Thailand, the petitioner must accept legal responsibility for financially supporting the fiancé. The petitioner accepts this responsibility and becomes a K-1 sponsor by completing and signing a document called the I-134 Affidavit of Support.

Income Requirement

Part of the K-1 Visa requirements is to ensure that the petitioner is able to meet the income eligibility requirement in the Affidavit of Support he or she must show that his/her income is 100% of the poverty line. The chart below shows the current poverty guidelines along with the calculation necessary to determine if a petitioner's income meets the 100% requirement.

Petitioner for a K-1 Visa who does not meet the K-1 Visa Income Requirement

K-1 visa affidavit of support requirements do not have a hard and fast formula for qualifying a person as a sponsor. The most weight will be placed on income from current employment and the income shown on the three most recent tax returns. In most cases, a sponsor who is employed and can demonstrate the ability to earn income at or above 100% of the poverty line for the number of persons who will be supported will be found eligible.

Immigration will look at the "whole picture" with regard to financial status if a petitioner does not have sufficient income to meet the K-1 visa requirements. USCIS will look at assets such as stocks, bonds, bank account balances, real estate, and any businesses owned by the petitioner. Assets such as these are only counted at 1/5th of their current market value after subtraction of any debt, mortgages or liens.

Assets such as these are only counted at 1/5th of their current market value after subtraction of any debt, mortgages or liens.

Calculating Assets and Income for K-1 Visa

Let's say a petitioner is single and makes $11,500 per year. He owns a home worth $100,000 with an outstanding mortgage in the amount of $50,000. He also has a bank balance of $5,000. The USCIS will likely compute this situation for the I-134 Affidavit of Support:

$100,000-$50,000=$50,000/5=$10,000

$5,000/5=$1,000

$10,000+1,000=$11,000

We now take this $11,000 and add it to petitioner's yearly income of $11,500. $11,500+$11,000= $22,500

It is clear that this amount ($22,500) exceeds 100% of the 2014 poverty guidelines ($15,730) even though petitioner's yearly income does not meet the necessary standard for supporting two people at 100% of the poverty guidelines.